Rio De Janeiro Drug Lab Had Accreditation Revoked As Result Of 'Blind' Test

The Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory which had its accreditation revoked last month by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a "hugely embarrassing blow for Brazilian authorities" failed a "blind" quality assessment test, according to David Owen of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. WADA has never "revealed details of the alleged shortcomings that prompted it to act at such a sensitive moment less than 10 months before the 2014 FIFA World Cup." The latest problem related to a "blind" test, according to "a well-placed source." Under WADA's External Quality Assessment Scheme, urine and blood samples are "distributed periodically by WADA to accredited labs to be tested for the presence -- or absence -- of prohibited substances." In a "blind" test, the laboratory knows that the sample "has been supplied under the EQAS scheme, but not what substance it might contain" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 9/4).